U.S. patent application number 13/688441 was filed with the patent office on 2014-05-29 for user interface broker for fire alarm systems.
This patent application is currently assigned to SIMPLEXGRINNELL LP. The applicant listed for this patent is SIMPLEXGRINNELL LP. Invention is credited to Kirill Alexandrov, Mario Boisclair, Mary Winna Fox, Dennis McEvoy, Joseph Piccolo, III.
Application Number | 20140145855 13/688441 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50772778 |
Filed Date | 2014-05-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140145855 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Boisclair; Mario ; et
al. |
May 29, 2014 |
USER INTERFACE BROKER FOR FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS
Abstract
An interface system for providing a comprehensive user interface
for alarm systems. The interface system may include two or more
alarm system workstations, each having a user interface application
installed thereon. One or more alarm panels may be connected to
each of the alarm system workstations, and one or more points may
be connected to each of the alarm panels. A broker workstation may
be connected to the two or more alarm system workstations, and one
or more client workstations may be connected to the broker
workstation. A user interface broker may be installed on the broker
workstation, wherein the user interface broker is configured to
provide the one or more client workstations with a user interface
that presents the status of, and that provides control over, all of
the points.
Inventors: |
Boisclair; Mario; (Montreal,
CA) ; Piccolo, III; Joseph; (Fitzwilliam, NH)
; McEvoy; Dennis; (Groton, MA) ; Fox; Mary
Winna; (Nashville, TN) ; Alexandrov; Kirill;
(Longueuil, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SIMPLEXGRINNELL LP |
Westminster |
MA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
SIMPLEXGRINNELL LP
Westminster
MA
|
Family ID: |
50772778 |
Appl. No.: |
13/688441 |
Filed: |
November 29, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
340/691.8 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G08B 25/14 20130101;
G08B 17/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
340/691.8 |
International
Class: |
G08B 29/02 20060101
G08B029/02 |
Claims
1. An interface system for providing a comprehensive user interface
for alarm systems, the interface system comprising: at least two
alarm system workstations, each alarm system workstation having a
user interface application installed thereon; at least one alarm
panel connected to each of the at least two alarm system
workstations; at least one point connected to the at least one
alarm panel; at least one client workstation; and a user interface
broker operatively connected to each of the at least two alarm
system workstations and the at least one client workstation,
wherein the user interface broker is configured to provide the at
least one client workstation with a user interface that presents
the status of, and provides control over, the at least one
point.
2. The interface system in accordance with claim 1, further
comprising a broker workstation, wherein the user interface broker
is installed on the broker workstation.
3. The interface system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the
user interface broker is installed on one of the at least two alarm
system workstations.
4. The interface system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the
user interface broker is installed on the at least one client
workstation.
5. The interface system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at
least one point is an alarm system notification appliance.
6. The interface system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at
least one point is an alarm system initiating device.
7. The interface system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at
least two alarm system workstations are components of at least two,
separate alarm systems.
8. The interface system in accordance with claim 1, wherein each of
the at least two alarm system workstations is associated with a set
of points that is not associated with another alarm system
workstation.
9. A method for implementing a comprehensive user interface for at
least one alarm system having at least two alarm system
workstations, each alarm system workstation having a user interface
application installed thereon, at least one alarm panel connected
to each of the at least two alarm system workstations, at least one
point connected to the at least one alarm panel, and at least one
client workstation, the method comprising: providing a first user
interface broker that is operatively connected to each of the at
least two alarm system workstations and the at least one client
workstation; the first user interface broker receiving user
interface data from the user interface applications residing on the
at least two alarm system workstations; and the first user
interface broker providing the at least one client workstation with
a user interface that presents the status of, and provides control
over, the at least one point.
10. The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein the step of
receiving user interface data from the user interface applications
includes aggregating point configuration data and other information
provided by the at least two alarm system workstations into a
single data file.
11. The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein the step of
providing the at least one client workstation with a user interface
that presents the status of, and provides control over, the at
least one point includes routing control instructions from the at
least one client workstation to an appropriate alarm system
workstation.
12. The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein the user
interface broker is installed on a broker workstation.
13. The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein the user
interface broker is installed on one of the at least two alarm
system workstations.
14. The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein the user
interface broker is installed on the at least one client
workstation.
15. The method in accordance with claim 9, further comprising:
connecting an additional alarm system workstation to the first user
interface broker; and at the user interface broker, integrating
interface data provided by a user interface application residing on
the additional alarm system workstation into the user interface
provided to the at least one client workstation.
16. The method in accordance with claim 9, further comprising:
connecting the first user interface broker and a second user
interface broker to a third user interface broker; wherein the
third user interface broker aggregates user interface data provided
by the first user interface broker and the second user interface
broker.
17. The method in accordance with claim 16, further comprising:
connecting at least one additional client workstation to the third
user interface broker; wherein the third user interface broker
provides the at least one additional client workstation with a user
interface that presents the aggregated user interface data.
18. A user interface broker for providing a comprehensive user
interface for alarm systems including at least two alarm system
workstations, at least one alarm panel connected to each of the at
least two alarm system workstations, at least one point connected
to the at least one alarm panel, and at least one client
workstation, the interface broker configured to perform a number of
steps comprising: receiving user interface data from user interface
applications residing on the at least two alarm system
workstations; and providing the at least one client workstation
with a user interface that presents the status of, and that
provides control over, the at least one point.
19. The user interface broker in accordance with claim 18, wherein
the step of receiving user interface data from the user interface
applications includes aggregating point configuration data and
other information provided by the at least two alarm system
workstations into a single data file.
20. The user interface broker in accordance with claim 18, wherein
the step of providing the at least one client workstation with a
user interface that presents the status of, and provides control
over, the at least one point includes routing control instructions
from the at least one client workstation to an appropriate alarm
system workstation.
21. The user interface broker in accordance with claim 18, wherein
the user interface broker resides on a broker workstation.
22. The user interface broker in accordance with claim 18, wherein
the user interface broker resides on one of the at least two alarm
system workstations.
23. The user interface broker in accordance with claim 18, wherein
the user interface broker resides on the at least one client
workstation.
Description
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0001] The disclosure relates generally to the field of alarm
systems, and more particularly to a system and method for providing
a comprehensive user interface for monitoring and controlling a
plurality of alarm systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0002] Alarm systems, such as fire alarm and security systems,
typically include one or more centralized alarm panels that receive
information from various sensors that are distributed throughout a
structure or area. For example, referring to FIG. 1, a typical fire
alarm system 10 may include a plurality of initiating devices 12
(e.g. smoke detectors, manually-actuated pull stations, etc.) that
are connected to one or more alarm panels 14. During normal
operation of the alarm system 10, the alarm panel 14 may monitor
electrical signals associated with each of the initiating devices
12 for variations that may represent the occurrence of an alarm
condition. For example, a variation in a particular electrical
signal may represent the detection of smoke by a smoke detector in
a corresponding area, or "zone," of a building in which the smoke
detector is located, and may cause the alarm panel 14 to enter an
alarm mode. The alarm panel 14 may be configured to respond to such
a condition by initiating certain predefined actions, such as
activating one or more notification appliances 16 (e.g. strobes,
sirens, public announcement systems, etc.) within the monitored
building.
[0003] The exemplary alarm system 10 may also include a workstation
18, such as a personal computer (PC) or server, which is
operatively connected to the alarm panel 14 of the alarm system 10.
If the alarm system 10 includes a plurality of alarm panels 14, the
panels 14 may be networked, such as in a ring configuration, and
the workstation 18 may be connected to the network as a network
node as shown in FIG. 2. The workstation 18 may be loaded with one
or more software applications that provide human operators of the
system 10 with a user interface (UI) for monitoring and controlling
certain aspects of the alarm system 10. For example, a UI may
provide an operator with a graphical representation of the alarm
system 10, including all of the individual initiating devices 12
and notification appliances 16 (collectively referred to as
"points") within the system 10. The UI may allow an operator to
observe the functional status of the points 12 and 16, and may
further allow the operator to activate, deactivate, or otherwise
exert control over the operation of the points 12 and 16. For
example, the UI may allow an operator to readily determine whether
a particular point in the system is functioning properly, and to
dispatch service personnel if it is not. The UI may further allow
an operator to determine the specific initiating device or devices
12 that were tripped upon the occurrence of an alarm condition.
Still further, the UI may allow an operator to manually activate
one or more specified notification appliances 16 within the system
10, such as for delivering a public announcement.
[0004] A first shortcoming associated with many existing alarm
systems of the type described above is that UI software
applications that were implemented in such systems in the past are
only capable of accommodating a limited total number of points
(i.e. initiating devices and notification appliances). For example,
UI applications in many existing alarm systems are configured to
provide an interface for a maximum of 50,000 points. Until
recently, such capacity was thought to be sufficient for most
applications. However, some large-scale users of alarm systems,
such as hotel chains and universities, have begun to expand their
alarm systems beyond, and in some cases well beyond, the point
capacities of their UI applications. One solution for handling such
expansion is to modify the UI software in existing alarm systems to
provide greater point capacities, but this is generally recognized
as being an impractically expensive and burdensome endeavor.
Instead, most large-scale users have simply resorted to installing
additional workstations, each with its own, independent UI software
application having an independent point capacity. For example, in
the exemplary system 20 shown in FIG. 3, if a first workstation 22
and associated group of networked alarm panels 23 provide a UI
capacity of 50,000 points 27, a second workstation 24 and
associated group of networked alarm panels 25 may be added to
provide an interface for an additional 50,000 points 29 to achieve
a total of 100,000 interfaced points. This solution is not ideal,
as it fails to provide a single, unified UI, and therefore requires
personnel to separately monitor each of the workstations 22 and 24.
This can be extremely cumbersome, especially if additional
workstations are numerous and/or spatially remote from one
another.
[0005] A second shortcoming associated with many existing alarm
systems is commonly realized by large-scale users having multiple,
remotely-located sites that require monitoring. Particularly, such
users must generally employ a separate workstation having its own,
independent UI at each remote site. This requires the user to
employ personnel at each site to monitor the various workstations,
which can be very expensive and logistically burdensome.
Alternatively, referring to the exemplary arrangement shown in FIG.
4, the user may choose to employ a third party service provider to
monitor the user's sites from a remote monitoring facility. Under
this type of arrangement, the user is typically required to pay the
service provider a substantial subscription fee, and generally must
install additional data transmission components (e.g. telephone
lines) in each of the alarm panels of its alarm system to
facilitate communication with the monitoring facility. In addition
to being very expensive, this approach generally precludes the user
from being able to comprehensively monitor the status of its own
alarm system in real-time.
SUMMARY
[0006] In view of the forgoing, a system and method are disclosed
for allowing users of alarm systems to interface with a virtually
unlimited number of alarm system points from a single UI
application on a single workstation without rewriting UI software
to accommodate such capacity. The system and method also may enable
users to interface with alarm system points installed at a
plurality of remotely-located sites from a single UI application on
a single workstation.
[0007] In accordance with the present disclosure, a system and
method for providing a comprehensive user interface for alarm
systems are disclosed.
[0008] An exemplary embodiment of an interface system in accordance
with the present disclosure can include two or more alarm system
workstations, each having a user interface application installed
thereon. One or more alarm panels may be connected to each of the
alarm system workstations, and one or more points may be connected
to each of the alarm panels. The interface system may further
include a broker workstation connected to the two or more alarm
system workstations, and one or more client workstations connected
to the broker workstation. The interface system may further include
a user interface broker installed on the broker workstation,
wherein the user interface broker is configured to provide the one
or more client workstations with a user interface that presents the
status of, and that provides control over, all of the points.
[0009] An exemplary method in accordance with the present
disclosure may be implemented for providing a comprehensive user
interface for at least one alarm system having at least two alarm
system workstations, each alarm system workstation having a user
interface application installed thereon, at least one alarm panel
connected to each of the at least two alarm system workstations, at
least one point connected to the at least one alarm panel, and at
least one client workstation. The exemplary method may include
providing a first user interface broker that is operatively
connected to each of the at least two alarm system workstations and
the at least one client workstation. The exemplary method may
further include the first user interface broker receiving user
interface data from the user interface applications residing on the
at least two alarm system workstations, and the first user
interface broker providing the at least one client workstation with
a user interface that presents the status of, and that provides
control over, all of the points.
[0010] An exemplary user interface broker for providing a
comprehensive user interface for alarm systems including at least
two alarm system workstations, at least one alarm panel connected
to each of the at least two alarm system workstations, at least one
point connected to the at least one alarm panel, and at least one
client workstation may be configured to perform a number of steps
including receiving user interface data from user interface
applications residing on the at least two alarm system
workstations, and providing the at least one client workstation
with a user interface that presents the status of, and that
provides control over, the at least one point.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] By way of example, specific embodiments of the disclosed
device will now be described, with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a prior art alarm
system.
[0013] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a prior art alarm
system having a plurality of networked alarm panels.
[0014] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a prior art alarm
system in which multiple alarm system workstations are implemented
to achieve additional point capacity.
[0015] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a prior art alarm
system monitoring scheme in which several alarm systems at
different locations are monitored by a third-party monitoring
service.
[0016] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary
interface system in accordance with the present disclosure.
[0017] FIG. 6 is a screen shot illustrating an exemplary "Alarm
Lists" window of a UI broker in accordance with the present
disclosure.
[0018] FIG. 7 is a screen shot illustrating an exemplary "Status
& Control" window of a UI broker in accordance with the present
disclosure.
[0019] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an alternative
embodiment of the exemplary interface system shown in FIG. 5.
[0020] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary
interface system in accordance with the present disclosure as used
for comprehensively interfacing alarm systems located at several
remote sites.
[0021] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary
hierarchical interface topology in accordance with the present
disclosure.
[0022] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method
for providing an interface system in accordance with the present
disclosure
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0023] A system and method for providing a comprehensive user
interface for alarm systems in accordance with the present
disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred
embodiments of the invention are shown. This disclosed system and
method, however, may be embodied in many different forms and should
not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.
Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will
be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the
invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, like
numbers refer to like elements throughout.
[0024] It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art
that the user interface system and method described herein may be
implemented in virtually any type of alarm or monitoring system,
including, but not limited to, fire alarm systems, burglar alarm
systems, surveillance systems, air quality monitoring systems,
inventory monitoring systems, etc., or any combination thereof,
such as may be provided for detecting an alarm event (e.g. a
security breach) or a warning condition (e.g. an elevated
temperature) in a building, structure, enclosure, or area
(collectively referred to herein as "sites"). Many other
applications are contemplated and may be implemented without
departing from the scope of the present disclosure. All such
applications are collectively referred to herein as "alarm
systems."
[0025] A first exemplary interface system 100 in accordance with
the present disclosure is depicted in FIG. 5. The interface system
100 may include an alarm system 102 installed at a monitored site.
The alarm system 102 may include two or more alarm system
workstations 104, such as personal computers (PCs) or servers,
which are each loaded with a user interface (UI) software
application. Each alarm system workstation 104 may be operatively
connected to one or more alarm panels 106, and each alarm panel 106
may in turn be operatively connected to a plurality of system
points 108 (e.g. initiating devices and notification appliances)
that are distributed throughout the monitored site. Each individual
alarm panel 106 shown in FIG. 5 may therefore represent a plurality
of interconnected alarm panels. Configured thusly, each UI
application on a respective alarm system workstation 104 may
provide a separate, independent UI for a plurality of points 108 in
the system 102, where the number of points 108 interfaced by each
alarm system workstation cannot exceed a maximum point capacity of
the UI application loaded thereon. "Point capacity" is defined
herein to mean a maximum number of points that a UI software
application is capable of providing an interface for, such as may
be defined by the parameters of the UI application software. For
example, in one non-limiting embodiment the UI applications on each
of the workstations 104 may each have a point capacity of 50,000
points. The point capacity of the entire alarm system 102,
including each of the independent alarm system workstations 104,
may therefore be 150,000 points.
[0026] The interface system 100 may further include a software
application or module referred to herein as a "UI broker." The UI
broker may be installed on a broker workstation 110 (such
installation represented by the dashed bubble and arrow shown in
FIG. 5) that is directly or indirectly connected to each of the
alarm system workstations 104 via wired or wireless network
connection means, such as via the Internet using transmission
control protocol and Internet protocol (TCP/IP) as shown in FIG. 5.
Various other network connection arrangements are contemplated,
including, but not limited to, dial-up, Ethernet, token ring, etc.,
and may be additionally or alternatively implemented without
departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The network
connection is in some embodiments a secure connection, such as may
be achieved through the implementation of a virtual private network
(VPN) or other secure connection means. The broker workstation 110
may be located in any of a variety of locations, such as at the
monitored site, at the location of one of the client workstations
112 (described below), or elsewhere.
[0027] Generally, the UI broker may be an architectural pattern for
UI data validation, UI data transformation, and UI data routing.
The UI broker may mediate communication amongst UI applications,
minimizing the mutual awareness that applications have of each
other in order to be able to exchange UI data, effectively
implementing decoupling. The general purpose of the UI broker is to
take incoming UI data from UI applications and perform some action
on them. For example, the UI broker may perform some or all of the
following actions: route UI data to one or more of many
destinations; transform UI data into an alternative representation;
perform UI data aggregation; decompose UI data into multiple data
packets and send them to appropriate destinations, then recompose
the data into a single packet to return to a user; interact with an
external repository to augment UI data or store it; invoke Web
services to retrieve data; and respond to events or errors.
[0028] In the present example, the UI broker may be an interface
application that is configured to receive and aggregate interface
data provided by each of the UI applications residing on the
respective workstations 104 in the alarm system 102. Particularly,
the UI broker may be configured to receive status information
pertaining to each of the points 108 in the entire alarm system
102, such data being provided by each individual UI application,
and may further be configured to issue command and control
instructions to each of the UI applications in response to operator
input as further described below.
[0029] The interface system 100 may further include one or more
client workstations 112 (e.g. PCs or servers) that may be directly
or indirectly connected to the broker workstation 110 via a secure,
wired or wireless network connection. Such connections may be
"permanent," as in the case of a client server that may be
continuously connected to the broker workstation 110 from a fixed
location, or "transient," as in the case of a client laptop that
may intermittently connect to the broker workstation 110 from
various locations. When connected to the broker workstation 110,
the client workstations 112 may be provided with access to the UI
broker residing thereon. The client workstations 112 may be loaded
with software applications and/or authentication means (e.g.
digital certificates) to facilitate secure connection and access to
the UI broker.
[0030] The UI broker may provide each of the connected client
workstations 112 with a UI that facilitates access to all of the
points in the entire alarm system 102 as aggregated by the UI
broker. Particularly, the UI broker may aggregate point
configuration data provided by the UI applications residing on each
of the alarm system workstations 104 connected thereto into a
single data file that is sent to each client workstation 112. Thus,
from the point of view of a human user, each client workstation 112
appears to be connected to a single, large, "virtual" alarm system
workstation to which all of the points in the system 102 are
connected. In addition, the UI broker may route global and point
specific messages (e.g. command and control signals) from each
client workstation 112 to appropriate alarm system workstations 104
for allowing users to access and exert control over specified
points in the alarm system 102. Still further, the UI broker may
monitor its connections to the various alarm system workstations
104 and may report any faults or connection issues to the client
workstations 112 for display to users. Each client workstation 112
may thereby provide users with a single, comprehensive interface
that facilitates observation of, and control over, all of the
points in the alarm system 102 in a seamless, unified manner
regardless of the point capacities of the individual workstations
104 in the alarm system 102.
[0031] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary screen shot of a workstation
(e.g. a broker workstation, alarm system workstation, or client
workstation) running the above-described UI broker. This screen
shot shows an "Alarm Lists" window of the UI broker (e.g. a
sub-menu of the overall UI broker application), which displays all
of the alarms associated with the aggregated points being monitored
by the workstation. As previously noted, these points can be
located in a single building, or in a plurality of different
buildings associated with the UI broker. In the "Alarm Lists"
window, "Point Name" refers to an individual sensor positioned
within a particular building, while "Node Name" refers to the
particular building being viewed. Event refers to a particular
abnormal condition associated with a particular point. Although in
the illustrated embodiment the alarms are shown as being associated
with a single node (i.e., Node 4), it will be appreciated that the
UI broker will enable a user to view any of a variety of nodes for
which the user has authorized access. Thus arranged, the disclosed
UI broker enables seamless monitoring of a variety of points in a
variety of locations.
[0032] FIG. 7 illustrates another exemplary screen shot of a
workstation running the UI broker. This screen shot shows a "Status
& Control" window of the UI broker, which allows a user to
manipulate, and observe the status of, all of the aggregated points
being monitored by the workstation. As noted above, these points
can be located in a single building, or in a plurality of different
buildings associated with the UI broker. The following exemplary
operations are available inside the Status & Control window:
displaying the status of a point; changing the status of a point;
silencing an alarm; resetting the system; finding a point;
filtering the current list of points; viewing the point graphic;
adding operator's notes for a point; and viewing operator's notes
for a point. Although the illustrated screen shot shows points
associated with a single node (i.e., Node 4), it will be
appreciated that the UI broker will enable a user to view any of a
variety of nodes (on successive screens) for which the user has
authorized access. Thus arranged, the disclosed UI broker enables
seamless observation and control of a variety of points in a
variety of locations.
[0033] As a result of implementing the above-described interface
system 100, monitoring personnel are no longer required to monitor
separate UI applications residing on the separate alarm system
workstations 104 in order to be apprised of the status of the
entire alarm system 102. Instead, personnel need only monitor and
interact with a single interface on a single client workstation
112.
[0034] It is contemplated that in some embodiments the UI broker
can be added to a previously-installed alarm system in a "retrofit"
manner by connecting the broker workstation 110 to the existing
workstations of the alarm system. Alternatively, the UI broker can
be implemented as an integral component of a new alarm system
installation having a plurality of alarm system workstations. In
the former case, there is essentially no disruption or change to
the alarm system from the point of view of a client, except that
the client will interface with the UI broker instead of the
individual UI applications. If a client requires additional point
capacity, additional alarm system workstations can be added to the
system and connected to the UI broker at any time. The UI broker
may integrate the newly added points into the UI provided by the UI
broker, and new points are thereby presented to a client in the
unified, seamless manner described above. For example, if each of
the three alarm system workstations 104 in FIG. 5 has a point
capacity of 50,000 points and the system client requires a point
capacity of greater than 150,000 points, a fourth alarm system
workstation can be added to the alarm system to increase the total
point capacity of the system 102 to 200,000 points.
[0035] Referring to FIG. 8, an exemplary alternative embodiment 200
of the interface system 100 described above is shown. The
alternative interface system 200 is substantially similar to the
interface system 100, except for the omission of a separate broker
workstation. With this embodiment, instead of the UI broker
residing on a separate, dedicated broker workstation, the UI broker
may reside on one of the alarm system workstations 204 or client
workstations 212 that is/are accessible by the other alarm system
workstations 204 and client workstations 212 in the alarm system
202. For example, the UI broker may reside on one of the alarm
system workstations 204 at the monitored site, with each of the
other alarm system workstations 204 and client workstations 212
being directly or indirectly connected thereto via a secure, wired
or wireless network connection. In such a case, the workstation on
which the UI broker is installed may be referred to as the "broker
workstation." The functional capability of the UI broker in such an
embodiment may be substantially similar to the UI broker in the
interface system 100 described above.
[0036] Referring to FIG. 9, an exemplary embodiment of a
"multi-site" implementation of an interface system 300 in
accordance with the present disclosure is illustrated. The
multi-site interface system 300 may be employed by clients who have
a plurality of monitored sites that are remote from one another.
For example, USER SITE #1, USER SITE #2, and USER SITE #3 shown in
FIG. 9 may be different buildings on a university campus, or
different hotels within a hotel chain. Each of the client's sites
may be equipped with independent alarm systems 302 similar to the
alarm systems 102 and 202 described above, each of which may
include one or more alarm system workstations 304 loaded with UI
applications, one or more alarm panels 306, and a plurality of
points 308. Each of the alarm system workstations 304 may be
directly or indirectly connected to a broker workstation 310 via a
secure, wired or wireless network connection. The broker
workstation 310 may be loaded with a UI broker as described above
for aggregating interface data provided by each of the UI
applications residing on the various alarm system workstations 304.
One or more client workstations 312 may be directly or indirectly
connected to the broker workstation 310 via a secure, wired or
wireless network connection, and may thereby access the UI broker
on a permanent or transient basis. As in the interface systems 100
and 200 described above, the UI broker of the multi-site interface
system 300 may provide clients with a single, comprehensive
interface that facilitates observation of, and control over, some
or all of the points 308 in the remotely-located alarm systems 302
in a seamless, unified manner. Thus, a user is no longer required
to maintain personnel at each of the user sites in order to monitor
each of the alarm system workstations 304, nor is there a need to
enlist a third-party monitoring service to remotely monitor the all
of the user sites for the client (as in FIG. 4). Instead, personnel
can monitor and interact with a single interface on a single client
workstation 312 to obtain a comprehensive, real-time appraisal of
all of the points 308 in the various alarm systems 302. And as
previously noted, additional alarm system workstations located at
existing or new sites can be connected to the broker workstation
310 and integrated into the UI provided by the UI broker at any
time without disrupting the client or requiring significant
modification to the multi-site interface system 300.
[0037] As with the previous embodiment, the broker workstation 310
of the multi-site interface system 300 may be located in any of a
variety of locations, such as at any one of the monitored user
sites, at the location of one of the client workstations 312, or
elsewhere. It is further contemplated that the individual broker
workstation 310 may be omitted, and that the UI broker may instead
reside on one or more of the alarm system workstations 304 or
client workstations 312 that is/are accessible by the other alarm
system workstations 312 and client workstations 304 in the alarm
systems. The UI broker may reside on one of the alarm system
workstations 304 at any of the monitored user sites, with each of
the other alarm system workstations 304 and client workstations 312
being directly or indirectly connected thereto via a secure, wired
or wireless network connection. In such a case, the workstation on
which the UI broker is installed may be referred to as the "broker
workstation."
[0038] Referring to FIG. 10, an example of a multitier,
hierarchical interface topology in accordance with the present
disclosure is depicted. The topology may include a plurality of
first tier broker workstations 400, each of which may be directly
or indirectly connected to two or more alarm system workstations
402 via a secure, wired or wireless network connection. The alarm
system workstations 402 (including alarm panels 404 and points 406
connected thereto) that are connected to each first tier broker
workstation 400 may be components of a single alarm system located
at a single site, or may define separate alarm systems installed at
sites that are remote from one another. The first tier broker
workstations 400 may each be loaded with a first tier UI broker for
aggregating interface data provided by UI applications residing on
the alarm system workstations 402 connected thereto. One or more
first tier client workstations 408 may be directly or indirectly
connected to each of the first tier broker workstations 400 via a
secure, wired or wireless network connection, and may thereby
access the first tier UI brokers residing on the respective first
tier broker workstations 400 on a permanent or transient basis.
Each of the first tier UI brokers may provide clients with a
single, comprehensive interface that facilitates observation of,
and control over, all of the points 406 in the alarm systems
connected thereto in a seamless, unified manner.
[0039] The topology of FIG. 10 may further include a plurality of
second tier broker workstations 410, each of which may be directly
or indirectly connected to two or more of the first tier broker
workstations 400 via a secure, wired or wireless network
connection. The second tier broker workstations 408 may each be
loaded with a second tier UI broker for aggregating interface data
provided by the first tier UI brokers residing on the first tier
broker workstations 400 connected thereto. That is, each second
tier UI broker may further aggregate the aggregated interface data
provided by each of the first tier UI brokers. One or more second
tier client workstations 412 may be directly or indirectly
connected to each of the second tier broker workstations 410 via a
secure, wired or wireless network connection, and may thereby
access the second tier UI brokers residing on the respective second
tier broker workstations 410 on a permanent or transient basis.
Each of second tier UI brokers may thereby provide connected
clients with a single, comprehensive interface that facilitates
observation of, and control over, all of the points 406 in the
alarm systems connected thereto (i.e. via respective first tier
broker workstations 400) in a seamless, unified manner.
[0040] The topology of FIG. 10 may further include a third tier
broker workstation 414 which may be directly or indirectly
connected to two or more of the second tier broker workstations 410
via a secure, wired or wireless network connection. The third tier
broker workstation 414 may be loaded with a third tier UI broker
for aggregating interface data provided by the second tier UI
brokers residing on the second tier broker workstations 410
connected thereto. That is, the third tier UI broker may further
aggregate the aggregated interface data provided by each of the
second tier UI brokers. One or more third tier client workstations
416 may be directly or indirectly connected to the third tier
broker workstation 414 via a secure, wired or wireless network
connection, and may thereby access the third tier UI broker
residing on the third tier broker workstation 414 on a permanent or
transient basis. The third tier UI broker may thereby provide
connected clients with a single, comprehensive interface that
facilitates observation of, and control over, all of the points 406
in all of the alarm systems in a seamless, unified manner.
[0041] It will be appreciated that the topology depicted in FIG. 9
is but one example of the large variety of possible hierarchical
configurations that may include any number of alarm system
workstations and any number of broker workstations interconnected
in any number of tiers. Moreover, various "hybrid" configurations
are contemplated, such as wherein a second tier broker workstation
may be directly or indirectly connected to two or more alarm system
workstations (i.e. instead of being connected to first tier broker
workstations). Such configurations may be implemented by clients
who wish to organize a plurality of monitored sites into a clearly
delineated hierarchy for convenient and/or partitioned
monitoring.
[0042] For example, a client that may employ the topology shown in
FIG. 10 may be a hotel chain in which the alarm system workstations
402 are installed in various hotels across the United States. Each
of the alarm system workstations 402 that are installed in hotels
within a particular state may be connected to a common, first tier
broker workstation 400. The first tier UI brokers associated with
the first tier broker workstations 400 may provide clients
connected thereto with the ability to observe and control some or
all of the alarm system points 406 located in all of the hotels in
a particular state. The second tier broker workstations 410 may
each be connected to two or more of the first tier broker
workstations 400 that represent hotels in states that are located
in a common geographic region (e.g. the Midwest). The second tier
UI brokers may therefore provide clients connected thereto with the
ability to observe and control alarm system points 406 located in
all of the hotels in a particular geographic region. Finally, the
third tier broker workstation 414 may be connected to all of the
second tier broker workstations 410 and thereby represent all of
the hotels in the United States. The third tier UI broker
associated with the third tier broker workstation 414 may therefore
provide clients connected thereto with the ability to observe and
control alarm system points located in all of the hotels in the
country.
[0043] It is contemplated that for practical reasons UI brokers
that are higher up in a particular hierarchy may be configured to
provide less detailed information regarding alarm systems connected
thereto relative to UI brokers that are lower in the hierarchy. For
example, a client that is connected to the national tier UI broker
of the above-described hotel chain system may be interested in
knowing whether an alarm condition exists in a particular hotel,
but may not be interested in knowing the specific point in the
hotel that initiated the alarm condition. Conversely, a client that
is connected to a state, city, or local tier UI broker may be
interested in knowing precisely which point in a hotel alarm system
initiated an alarm condition so that the client may inform response
personnel (e.g. fire or police personnel) of the location in the
hotel where the condition originated.
[0044] Referring now to FIG. 11, a flow diagram illustrating an
exemplary method for implementing an interface system in accordance
with the present disclosure is shown. At a first step 500 in the
flow diagram, at least one alarm system is provided, including at
least two alarm system workstations, each having a user interface
application installed thereon. At least one alarm panel may be
connected to each of the at least two alarm system workstations,
and at least one point may be connected to the at least one alarm
panel. At a second step 510 in the flow diagram, at least one
client workstation may be provided.
[0045] At a third step 520 in the flow diagram, a first UI broker
may be directly or indirectly connected to the at least two alarm
system workstations and the at least one client workstation via a
secure, wired or wireless network connection. The first UI broker
may be configured as described above for aggregating interface data
provided by UI applications residing on the alarm system
workstations connected thereto. Particularly, each alarm system
workstation may send configuration data and other information to
the first UI broker as though the alarm system workstation were
communicating directly with a client workstation. The first UI
broker may be installed on a separate broker workstation, or may be
installed on one or more of the alarm system workstations or on a
client workstation.
[0046] The first UI broker may provide each of the connected client
workstations with a UI that facilitates access to all of the points
connected to any of the alarm system workstations. Particularly,
the first UI broker may aggregate point configuration data (e.g.
data detailing the number, type, and location of points) and other
information provided by the alarm system workstations into a single
data file that is sent to each of the client workstations. The
alarm system workstations continuously communicate event
information and status updates relating to connected points to the
first UI broker, which in turn continuously aggregates such data
and sends it to the client workstations for presentation to users.
The first UI broker also routes instructions and messages from each
of the client workstations to appropriate alarm system workstations
for allowing users to exert control over specified points in a
system. Each client workstation may therefore provide users with a
single, comprehensive interface that facilitates observation of,
and control over, all of the points in a seamless, unified
manner.
[0047] At an optional fourth step 530 in the flow diagram, an
additional alarm system workstation that is connected to
corresponding additional alarm panels and points may be connected
to the first UI broker. The first UI broker may then access the UI
application residing on the newly added alarm system workstation
and may integrate the points of the workstation into the UI that is
presented to the one or more client workstations in a unified,
seamless manner.
[0048] At an optional fifth step 540 in the flow diagram, the first
UI broker and a second UI broker may be directly or indirectly
connected to a third, higher-tier UI broker workstation via secure,
wired or wireless network connection means. The third UI broker may
be configured as described above for further aggregating the
aggregated interface data provided by the first and second UI
brokers connected thereto.
[0049] At an optional sixth step 550 in the flow diagram, one or
more additional client workstations may be directly or indirectly
connected to the third UI broker via secure, wired or wireless
network connection means. The third UI broker may provide each of
the additional client workstations with a UI that facilitates
access to all of the points aggregated by the first and second UI
brokers. Each connected client workstation may therefore provide
users with a single, comprehensive interface that facilitates
observation of, and control over, all of the aggregated points in a
seamless, unified manner
[0050] As used herein, an element or step recited in the singular
and proceeded with the word "a" or "an" should be understood as not
excluding plural elements or steps, unless such exclusion is
explicitly recited. Furthermore, references to "one embodiment" of
the present invention are not intended to be interpreted as
excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also
incorporate the recited features.
[0051] While certain embodiments of the disclosure have been
described herein, it is not intended that the disclosure be limited
thereto, as it is intended that the disclosure be as broad in scope
as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise.
Therefore, the above description should not be construed as
limiting, but merely as exemplifications of particular embodiments.
Those skilled in the art will envision other modifications within
the scope and spirit of the claims appended hereto.
[0052] The various embodiments or components described above, for
example, the alarm system workstations, broker workstations, and
the components or processors therein, may be implemented as part of
one or more computer systems. Such a computer system may include a
computer, an input device, a display unit and an interface, for
example, for accessing the Internet. The computer may include a
microprocessor. The microprocessor may be connected to a
communication bus. The computer may also include memories. The
memories may include Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read Only
Memory (ROM). The computer system further may include a storage
device, which may be a hard disk drive or a removable storage drive
such as a floppy disk drive, optical disk drive, and the like. The
storage device may also be other similar means for loading computer
programs or other instructions into the computer system.
[0053] As used herein, the term "computer" may include any
processor-based or microprocessor-based system including systems
using microcontrollers, reduced instruction set circuits (RISCs),
application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), logic circuits,
and any other circuit or processor capable of executing the
functions described herein. The above examples are exemplary only,
and are thus not intended to limit in any way the definition and/or
meaning of the term "computer."
[0054] The computer system executes a set of instructions that are
stored in one or more storage elements, in order to process input
data. The storage elements may also store data or other information
as desired or needed. The storage element may be in the form of an
information source or a physical memory element within the
processing machine.
[0055] The set of instructions may include various commands that
instruct the computer as a processing machine to perform specific
operations such as the methods and processes of the various
embodiments of the invention. The set of instructions may be in the
form of a software program. The software may be in various forms
such as system software or application software. Further, the
software may be in the form of a collection of separate programs, a
program module within a larger program or a portion of a program
module. The software also may include modular programming in the
form of object-oriented programming. The processing of input data
by the processing machine may be in response to user commands, or
in response to results of previous processing, or in response to a
request made by another processing machine.
[0056] As used herein, the term "software" includes any computer
program stored in memory for execution by a computer, such memory
including RAM memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, and
non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) memory. The above memory types are
exemplary only, and are thus not limiting as to the types of memory
usable for storage of a computer program.
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